


Lightning Strikes

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: Scraps [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Community: Fireandice2009, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-02
Updated: 2012-07-02
Packaged: 2017-11-09 00:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/449098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary:  Written for the Ed/Winry FireAndIce2009 challenge, for the prompt of <i>Waiting Out theStorm</i>.  <br/>Disclaimer:  No own!  No make money.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightning Strikes

The first day of rain had been pleasant. Rush Valley, after all, was not only dry but also hot. Rain cooled things off, washed away the dust, made everyone smile. By the second day, the rain had turned the oversaturated dirt into mud that tracked everywhere and seemed to get into automail, even through boots and trousers and shirts. By the third day, the mud seemed deadly as quicksand and just as likely to suck someone down into it, never to be released. Edward thought he’d just managed to escape that quickmud with his life, only to walk into another kind of storm.

Winry jammed her fists into her hips. “Do you have any idea how stupid it was, to go out there?”

Not bothering to answer, Edward pressed his hands together, touching first his automail leg then his arm. The sticky mud dried almost instantly, falling away to dust.

“Ed!”

That irritated note in her voice boded no good. He hunched his shoulders automatically, expecting a wrench to come slamming down on his skull. “What? I dried up the mud so I wouldn’t track it anywhere. What’s wrong with that?”

Grumbling, Winry snatched at his right hand, jerking it closer so she could take a look. “You idiot. Now you’ve got dirt in your gears!”

Edward’s mouth flattened into a tight line. “I transmuted the mud.”

“Right back into the fine grit that’s everywhere in Rush Valley.” Winry clicked her tongue in annoyance. “It gets into everything and gums up the gears.”

Exasperated, Edward tugged at his hand, not able to pull free from Winry’s grip. “How was I to know?”

She glared, her eyes darker than the clouds outside. “I’ve been telling you since you got here!”

Edward couldn’t think of a time when Winry had mentioned anything about dirt and opened his mouth to say so – then snapped it shut again. Oh. She had said something about it while sweeping Mr. Garfiel’s shop the other day, how the dirt got into everything. How she had to take that into account for locals who needed automail and make sure they oiled the gears of their limbs regularly. Hell, she’d even shoved a can into his hand the other day and stood there imperiously, tapping her foot, until he’d shown her he actually did know how to grease up his automail.

“Um.” Sheepish, Edward had to force his left hand to stay where it was rather than scrub fitfully under his pony tail. “Sorry. You’re right.”

Winry narrowed her eyes. Her fingers tightened their grip on his wrist. If it was flesh, Edward was sure he’d have bruises.

“But I had a reason to go out there.” Desperation? Well, he really didn’t want to be whacked by a handy tool. “I had that letter to mail to Al,” still in Xing, still researching Xingese alchemy with that little bean girl, “and there was something else I had to do, too.”

Her fingers drummed against the grill on his forearm. “Al’s letter could’ve waited.” The ‘and you know it’ remained unsaid. “So what was the other reason you just had to go out in that rain?”

“Edwaaard!” Garfiel trilled, sashaying into the room, something cuddled up to his chest. “You are truly a hero.” Turning his attention to the bit of fluff in his large hands, Garfiel murmured, “Isn’t he a hero? I’d say so, wouldn’t you?”

Nonplused, Winry looked from Edward to her master. “What…did you do, Ed?”

“Only rescued a momma dog and her litter of pups from that abandoned shack down on Basin Street.” Before Winry could react, Garfiel asked, “Did that place really wash away just as you were carrying out the puppies? Never mind. You can share your story later.” Garfiel pressed the scrap of fluff into Winry’s hands. “This little darling is all clean and dry but her mother and brother still need to be washed.” Swirling around, Garfiel left the room in a flurry of ruffles. “I’ll get them bathed, Edward, but Winry, dear, you could help!”

Reaching over, Edward very gently pressed his metal forefinger under Winry’s chin, guiding her mouth closed. “You’d better get in there.” Before she could protest, he scooped the puppy out of her arms. “I’ll take care of this little girl.”

Winry snorted, despite the roses blooming in her cheeks. “You need to take care of yourself, too.”

“Eh.” Edward waved his free hand, wincing at the squeal that came out of his wrist joint. Grinning at the return of Winry’s scowl, he hoped he could divert the storm. “I can wait? ‘Til after we’re finished cleaning up the dogs?”

Her snort even more exasperated and accompanied by rolling eyes, Winry caught hold of his automail hand again. “All right.” Her expression softened a bit as she looked at the puppy cradled in the crook of his left arm. “I guess you did have a good reason for being out there.”

Edward nodded, wishing he could tell Winry that, for every good reason he had to go out in the storm, she was his reason for coming back home. Those words got jammed in his throat, worse than that clingy mud. Still, the warmth in her eyes told him, maybe, she understood what he couldn’t say.

“C’mon.” Winry broke the moment when she tugged at his hand. “We’ve got dogs to bathe.”

“And maintenance afterward?” Edward winced at the realization.

Winry smiled, a little flirtatious, a little wicked. “Don’t worry, Ed. I’ll make it worth your while.” She pulled him along behind her, that grin promising a lot more than just some squirts of oil in squeaky joints.

Maybe it was still raining outside but inside, Edward thought, it was kind of like the sun just came out from behind the clouds.


End file.
